Whenever I played the romance option in a rpg, I always wanted to see more. Who doesn't, honestly? But alas, fade to black is all we get :-)
With Str8 it's different, because of the strong sexual tension between the characters. You don't see many actual sex scenes, but the tension is always there. It's a much more satisfying experience, actually.
*Heavy Spoilers*
Max was indeed portrayed as a dick most of the time in the first half and I guess Mikhails introduction of Max as someone who sold secretly made videos of his mother and sisters didn't help much either :-). Although I think that the plotline "Total dick with hidden depths" isn't completely unique, it was well written and his development felt very natural. I thought that his lack of social skills might even be a side effect of him sharing some traits with his autistic brother?
I can't imagine what it means to live in a hostile environment like that, with everything else you have going on. In Germany things have improved a lot over the years and most people are generally accepting of gays. There's the one or other homophobic politician of cause, but they are heavily leaned on by the media if anything comes out :-)
My last reply was somewhat generic and I felt a bit guilty about it :-). I've just read your other posts and how much you had to work through. I'm so happy for you that you have this much psychological insight at your age and good friends to talk to. When I was 21 I had not the faintest inkling of how to handle my feelings and I felt like there was no one I could talk to about it. It took many years for me to work through all this and confront my fears. Times were different then, almost 40 years ago, and information was hard to come by.
Just finished Chapter 9. I like the "brotherly love" / more than a friendship Scene with Zach and Mikhail at the pool. You took a page from Aristotle's philia concept? :-). Regarding porn scenes: there's no end of that on the net, really. But a good story that tickles your imagination is hard to come by. And you got a lot of really strong scenes in the game that left my imagination running wild :-). I made a small contribution on your Patreonsite just to be part of this effort.
Thank you for taking us along on your journey!
Hello Aaryn! Love your game so much. The characters feel so real to me. Aaand they are gorgeous on top! Kudos to you and your artists.
I was so shocked when Zach lied to Mikhail in the locker room. Story of my life, really. I was about 14 years old when it struck me that I'm gay. My next thought was "No one must know, ever!", sadly. I never hated being gay, though. I mean, how can something that makes me feel so good be a bad thing? But my fear of rejection was too strong. So I avoided the issue or lied outright.
Then there was this boy in my class. I liked him a lot and probably ogled him a bit too obvious :-). One day he confronted me during handicrafts lessons and asked me if I liked him. I said yes, but it came out like "Yes, but not the way you want it". There was someone actually interested in me and I couldn't bring myself to admit openly that I was gay. Not in front of the others. Your game brought all this back and I thought how my life could have changed if I where open with him then.
I was well in my thirties when I finally came out to family and friends. It was a big thing for me then, but most people where like "So what, we suspected it all along!". Funny thing is, I never faced open rejection, it was all in my head. I had my "Years of service" in the gay community, the marching, the partying, working in the gay association. People think usually that I'm fun to have around, but inside still this little voice whispers "No one must know!" and it's so damn hard for me to be open and really close with people.
P.S. If you need any help with translations, spell checking or coding, I'm game :-). I'm German btw. and have some experience with coding projects, published some myself on Nexusmods.com
